Unmasking the fake MAGA accounts: stolen photos and digital lies

Meet Eva. She lives in the US, and likes hanging out at the beach and posting to her 8,000+ followers on X. A quick glance at Eva’s profile reveals that she has strong opinions against LGBTQ+ people and the Democratic Party. She reshares posts from X owner Elon Musk and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and is a loyal supporter of former US president Donald Trump – in one photograph, she even sports a “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) baseball cap.

The problem is, Eva doesn’t exist in real life. The blonde-haired woman pictured on Eva’s X profile, “eva_maga1996”, is not pro-Trump Eva, but a Danish fashion influencer whose images have been taken from her Instagram profile and used without her permission. The “MAGA” logo on Eva’s red baseball cap has been edited so intricately it could easily be missed, but whoever is responsible missed a crucial detail: the logo should read backwards, as it’s a selfie.

In collaboration with CNN, CIR has uncovered 16 other social media accounts like this one, that pose as young, pro-Trump American women but are hiding behind the stolen photographs of European fashion and beauty influencers. These accounts are among 56 X profiles identified by CIR and CNN, many with thousands of followers each, that appear to be part of a coordinated campaign to push pro-Trump content.

Analysis of these accounts reveals a pattern of inauthentic behaviour: they use stolen photos manipulated to include Trump and MAGA slogans on items of clothing – or in some cases, images that appear to be AI-generated – and use the same hashtags and similar posts which often include English language errors. The accounts use popular female names such as “Sophia”, “Isabelle”, and “Samantha” and share common traits such as listing their location as the US.

Their posts praise President Trump and Senator JD Vance and attempt to discredit Democratic Party members such as President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. They post about divisive issues in US politics in a bid to exploit pre-existing tensions, commenting on topics such as LGBTQ+ rights and sending aid to Ukraine. In some cases, they spread falsehoods and conspiracy theories, including around COVID-19. Some of these posts have generated tens – and sometimes hundreds – of thousands of views.

Without insight into X’s data, it’s not clear who is behind these accounts, or to confirm whether they’re pushing pro-Trump content for ideological or monetary gain. However, what’s clear is that these accounts are posing as fashionable young American women who are going to vote for President Trump in the US presidential election this November, and the people behind these accounts – whoever they are – are encouraging their thousands of followers to do so too.

Images manipulated

In a number of cases, influencers’ photos were not just stolen and repurposed as new online personas but were manipulated to make it look like they were wearing pro-Trump paraphernalia.

CIR found several instances where labels on the influencers’ T-shirts or hats were edited to show the MAGA slogan or references to President Trump’s 2024 campaign. These edits suggest an attempt to tailor the personas to Trump supporters and to give the impression that these fashionable young women are sporting pro-Trump clothing.

Blue tick verification

Many of the accounts in the network appeared in 2024, some as recently as this month. At least 15 of the accounts have the blue tick verification badge.

While the blue tick was once a sign of authenticity and verification, Musk’s takeover saw Twitter’s old system replaced with X Premium. The blue tick now symbolises that an account has an active subscription and meets X’s “eligibility requirements”. Premium subscribers enjoy additional features such as seeing their posts ranked higher when replying to others and have the option to apply for revenue sharing from adverts on the site.

The platform’s eligibility criteria for achieving the blue tick states that accounts must have a name, a profile image, a confirmed phone number and an active X premium subscription, which requires the processing of payment details. X also requires that accounts must “have no signs of being misleading or deceptive”.

Given that over a dozen of the fake accounts identified by CIR and CNN have blue ticks, those checks have clearly failed. Research carried out by news organisations and researchers has uncovered other premium accounts that are in clear violation of X’s rules, including pro-Nazi and antisemitic content that has accrued millions of views.

‘Trump trains’ and viral posts

These accounts have gained popularity quickly: some were created only two to three months before this research was carried out but soon boasted thousands of followers, with some posts going viral.

They appear to have grown their follower counts by using traditional digital marketing strategies, such as calls for “likes and retweets” and the posting of “Trump Trains” – a technique which aims to increase hashtags, follower counts and ultimately grow the pro-Trump community by providing a list of usernames for accounts to follow.

Some accounts called for “follows” from “MAGA fans only”, or referred to followers as “patriots”, appealing to them to reshare content. They also posted on significant US dates with hashtags like “MAGApatriots”, “TrumpSupports2A”, and “MAGA2024”.

‘Just a normal girl’

Almost all of the impersonator accounts feature a photo of the influencer as the pinned post and profile image. By using images of the influencers, the accounts recognise the value of creating a believable human persona, steering clear of the generic photos and bot-like usernames usually associated with fake accounts.

These profiles regularly use other images from the influencers’ Instagram accounts, including everyday images of them at the beach, out at a cafe, walking or playing with their dog or posting selfies. In some cases, they posted videos of the influencers doing their makeup routines or other everyday acts. This content helps give the impression that the fake account is a real person, enabling them to build online personas that followers can relate to.

Many of these selfies or photos were captioned with MAGA-related hashtags or pledges to vote for President Trump on 5 November, however. One account claims to be “just a normal girl who will vote for Trump”, and asks her followers: “Who’s with me?” Another account asks followers to drop an American flag emoji in the comments if they “support Trump”.

Some of these posts gained significant traction in shares, likes and comments on X – in some cases generating tens or even hundreds of thousands of views, as seen below.

Interestingly, some of the accounts go one step further by attempting to establish ownership over the images, outing other accounts who they claim are using the images without their permission. In some cases, they claim they have reported and blocked these accounts and call on their followers to do the same. One account, pictured below, questioned the purpose of an account using the same images, while another claimed that X “hasn’t taken any action yet”.

Disinformation, conspiracies and divisive topics

These accounts make bold attempts to mislead people on the internet – primarily those in the US – in some cases exploiting pre-existing societal tensions and spreading disinformation. The content shared by the accounts is broad in subject, but much of it covers issues related to the election. CIR found posts mentioning the assassination attempt on President Trump, Vice President Harris’ ethnicity and defunding military aid to Ukraine.

Some accounts promoted anti-vaccination and COVID-19 conspiracies, with posts reaching significant audiences on X. The example shared below was viewed over 900,000 times.

In particular, accounts seized upon news stories relating to gender and LGBTQ+ rights, in some cases allowing them to undermine Democratic policies and promote Republican views. Many of the accounts published or retweeted posts scrutinising Olympic boxer Imane Khelif, who was recently the centre of a gender eligibility row, despite the International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirming her eligibility to compete in the games. The accounts hijacked existing narratives around the story to further fuel tensions and push anti-transgender sentiment.

For instance, they used images of Khelif captioned with divisive statements and made reference to President Trump’s pledge to “keep men out of women’s sports”. One post states: “Allowing men in women’s competitions is evil. Democrats support it.” Another features an illustration of a female boxer facing a beast-like figure, titled “Paris 2024”.

Platform responsibility

Researchers and policymakers have continually underlined the growing threat of fake accounts and disinformation on X. In July, the EU Commission formally charged the platform under the Digital Services Act (DSA), following an investigation into how it moderates illegal content and disinformation

While the intention behind fake accounts like Eva’s remains unclear, they underscore the growing threat of digital deception. These accounts took images of European fashion influencers and used them – without their permission – to pose as young, pro-Trump American women. In some cases, images were edited using sophisticated image manipulation techniques.

According to X’s website, “impersonation is a violation of the X Rules”. Platform policy states that accounts posing “as another person, group, or organisation in a confusing or deceptive manner may be permanently suspended under X’s misleading and deceptive identities policy.”

As part of their joint investigation with CIR, CNN approached X for comment and notified them of the nearly 60 fake accounts identified in this investigation. The platform did not respond. However, action appears to have been taken after coverage by a Danish news outlet earlier this week. Many of the accounts, including “@eva_maga1996”, have now been suspended.

These accounts seek to exploit wedge issues and existing societal tensions – at times spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories – a finding that is particularly concerning in the run-up to the US Presidential election this November.

Online researchers have flagged Musk’s own role in stoking tensions and posting false claims around the election. False or misleading US election claims posted by the X owner have amassed nearly 1.2 billion views on the platform this year, according to the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH).

As the US election approaches, the need for online vigilance is more critical than ever. Social media platforms must enhance their efforts to detect and remove inauthentic accounts, while users should remain discerning about the content they encounter online. Collaboration between tech companies, government agencies, and civil society is essential to combat these deceptive campaigns effectively.

CNN’s coverage – which includes interviews with some of the women whose identities were stolen – can be found below.

Read CNN Article